Realtor Edward A. Bugos examines an old fireplace in one of Mentor's first homes built in 1835. The historic house will be auctioned on March 23.

The home, built in 1834 by Abner Parmele for the Harry Munson family, is one of Mentor's oldest. Like others in these turbulent financial times, it's been foreclosed upon and is ready to be auctioned off at 10 a.m. Saturday.

One Realtor suggested the home at 7050 Jackson St. should be torn down.

Others disagree, saying it's part of Mentor history.

"It's post and beam, built before electricity and plumbing, but it was built to last," said Carl Engel, historian with Morley Public Library in Painesville.

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Its corner lot at the edge of Old Mentor is slightly less than an acre and would likely be ideal for a new home.

"I have a builder coming to look at it today," said Edward A. Bugos, the broker agent with Caldwell Banker Hunter Realty who is charged with showing the property to prospective bidders.

He presided over open houses on Saturday and Sunday and explained the auction ground rules.

"Those intending to bid need to bring a certified check for $2,000 made out to themselves," he explained. "That will serve as earnest money if the bidder is successful."

The auction takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday on the premises. Bidding will begin at $99,000.

Bugos disagrees with the other Realtor's assessment of the house as a tear-down.

"Many people would find it charming," he said.

The home, unoccupied for more than a year, has three outbuildings, including a garage. It needs a coat of paint, new flooring, a new roof and what appears to be mainly cosmetic repairs. Bugos said he guesses it would need about $70,000 of work to put it into first-rate shape.

Mentor Development Director Ron Traub calls it a "diamond in the rough."

When occupied by the Harry Munson family in the mid-1800s it was near the center of Mentor, less than a half mile from the first town hall and the church where James A. Garfield preached. It's just as conveniently located today, minutes from Mentor Avenue shopping, dining and other services.

"Mentor: The First 200 Years," a comprehensive history of the city, pictures the Harry Munson home in its index of those homes on the Lake County Historical Society's register of historic early homes.

In 1982, Munson House residents Fred and Doris Dingeldein applied for historic status for the gracious two-story Greek Revival house, noting that it was built between 1835 and 1845, as early records carry both dates.

"I have photos of the house, including a copy of photo of Henry Edward Munson, submitted by the owners when they applied for their plaque," said Vickie Robb, a volunteer in library research for the Lake County Historical Society.

That black-and-white plaque, awarded after the Dingeldeins' research was authenticated, remains mounted proudly near the front door of the old house where they once lived.

Despite popular belief, its historic status confers no protection for the home.

"But if, after it is auctioned, the new owners take out a permit to have it demolished, we would enter into a conversation to see if it could be preserved," Traub said. "It's one of the homes that creates the old village character of Mentor."

Public records have little information about the most recent owners of the home or the circumstances surrounding its foreclosure, but a walk through the premises indicates one of the outbuildings was used for woodworking, with wood shavings and sawdust still on the wide plank floor. That building, which has both electricity and gas, has hand-hewn beams overhead.

The main house has several fireplaces, probably originally used for heating, and plenty of storage including a large pantry with several walls of shelves just off the kitchen. It's got plenty of almost new windows, two full baths, living room, family room, a full unfinished basement and an old root cellar and one-time coal bin having exposed beams with the tree bark still on them.

Old diary accounts were used by the authors of "Mentor: The First 200 years" to chronicle the Munson family's 1820 trek from Connecticut, through New York state and along the Lake Erie shore to Mentor.

"They packed their china in raw wool," the book relates. "Not only was their china unbroken at the end of the journey, but the wool was then carded, spun and made into clothing.

"They brought a cow along to provide them with fresh milk and cream. The cream went into a churn that was tied to the side of their wagon. By the end of each day the family had fresh butter and buttermilk thanks to the jarring of the wagon along the rough road. They spent their first days in Mentor in a cabin abandoned by another family."

Early records show that Ashbel Munson bought 200 acres of land along Jackson Street for $6 an acre, built a home for his family from wood cleared from the land, and began to farm it.

There's no indication of the relationship between Ashbel and Harry Munson, but a house the Mentor book indicates was built by Ashbel Munson, at 9275 Jackson St. closer to Heisley Road, coincidently is also marked by a "For Sale" sign. Historical accounts are largely silent about Harry Munson, although Henry is mentioned often. Engel, the library's researcher, was among several to theorize that Harry was a nickname for Henry and that they could be one and the same.

A diary kept by young Clarissa Munson was used by the late Jack Daniels, unofficial Lake County historian, in a column he wrote for The News-Herald in 1988.

It recounts a day shortly after the Munson family arrived in Mentor.

"My brother, George, and I were sent to school. We didn't know where the school was but we went until I saw some children in a house sitting on benches. I told George I guessed it was the schoolhouse," the girl wrote. "We went in and it was. The schoolhouse was built of logs, of course, and it stood on the right hand corner where you turn to go to Johnnycake Road. It was used not only for school but for church and to hold meetings in."

The diary later recounts that everyone in the family had to try to earn money since "wheat was 25 cents a bushel, shelled corn 12 cents a bushel, and calico 50 cents a yard."

Records unearthed by historian Carl Engel indicate that Henry (Harry?) Munson died in 1864 and that his Jackson Street property passed to his son, Horatio, who served as a county surveyor for 28 years. Horatio, Engel said, was born in 1837, possibly in the Jackson Street house, and died in 1912.

The Mentor book indicates that Munson family members were close friends of James and Lucretia Garfield. Garfield was born in 1831 and died in 1881, making him a contemporary of Horatio Munson.